A Silicon Valley figure who fled the country after being convicted in part because of a Usenet joke about Tom Cruise and Scientology has been arrested in Arizona.

Keith Henson, an engineer, writer and futurist, was arrested Friday in Prescott, Ariz., where he has been living for the past few years, and now faces extradition to California. Henson originally fled to Canada after the 2001 conviction.

Keith Henson

The misdemeanor conviction in California stems from a post that Henson made in the alt.religion.scientology Usenet newsgroup that joked about aiming a nuclear "Tom Cruise" missile at Scientologists, and Henson's picketing of the group's Golden Era Productions in Riverside, Calif.

Michael Kielsky, Henson's defense attorney, said Monday that his client will likely be released on Monday evening and is required to appear in court for a March 5 hearing.

Kielsky said that Henson was mistreated by police and jailers--including being told during the arrest that he had no right to an attorney and being held in solitary confinement in a poorly heated cell without adequate bedding. "My best information is that it's very political," he said. "They gave him an extra blanket but then an hour later they took it away--(this is) a 66-year-old man with a heart problem."

A message left with Sheila Polk, the Yavapai County Attorney, was not returned on Monday.

A brief flap that ensued over the amount of Henson's bond delayed the process. A judge initially set the amount at $7,500, but then increased it to $500,000 at the request of prosecutors, according to the Yavapai County Detention Center. After a telephone conference with the judge and attorneys on Monday afternoon, the bond was lowered to $5,000.

Henson's frequent encounters with Scientology, coupled with his lengthy resume of programming, electrical engineering and futurist accomplishments, have made him something of a legal cause celebre in technology circles.

Convicted of making threat to interfere with religion
Henson was convicted in 2001 under a California law (Sec. 422.6) that criminalizes any threat to interfere with someone else's "free exercise" of religion. One Usenet post that was introduced at his trial included jokes about sending a "Tom Cruise" missile against a Scientology compound (the actor is a prominent Scientologist). Picketing Scientology buildings and other "odd behavior" were also part of the charges, Deputy District Attorney Robert Schwarz said at the time.

Jeanne Roy, a deputy district attorney in Riverside County, Calif., said that the next step for her office is to see whether Henson shows up for his March 5 court date. If he does not, an Arizona warrant would be issued for his arrest. If he does, Roy said, another court date would be set to deal with extradition through a process known as a governor's warrant.

"That won't happen by March 5," Roy said. "It's usually a 30- to 90-day process, depending on the state, for that paperwork." If extradited to California, she said, Henson faces a year in jail or six months in jail and 3 years of probation.

When asked whether it's common for California to try to extradite someone on a misdemeanor conviction, Roy said: "It's not common, but it's not unusual either. We do it in some cases."

Henson's family is concerned about what might happen to him in jail. "The Scientologists have made death threats to my father," his daughter Amber Henson said in an e-mail message to CNET News.com. "My mom and I are going to do everything possible to make sure that they are not able to silently do away with him." (The Church of Scientology could not immediately be reached for comment on Monday.)

Before his misdemeanor conviction, Henson had become embroiled in a civil lawsuit that Scientology filed against him.

It arose out of supposedly secret scriptures written by L. Ron Hubbard, the late science fiction author and founder of Scientology, which describe a galactic overlord named Xenu who is allegedly the source of all human evil. Since the early 1990s, Scientology has made a concerted effort to remove those documents from the Internet--including suing Henson--but they finally found a permanent legal home in the Netherlands.

Scientology's tactics, which critics say include cult-like retention practices and intimidation, have drawn fire in the past. A Time magazine cover story, for instance, concluded that "Scientology poses as a religion but really is a ruthless global scam." Xenu and Cruise were also satirized in a November 2005 episode of South Park.

Read about some of the trials of Scientology working to gain their tax exemption as a recognized religion.

The wiki article says: "Scientologists infiltrated the IRS and stole confidential documents in what was termed Operation Snow White. Eleven high-ranking Scientologists, including Hubbard's wife Mary Sue Hubbard, served time in federal prison for acts surrounding this operation."

So they literally infiltrated the IRS for information that many believe was to be used to strong arm the government into restoring their tax exemption.

From this entry on Hubbard: <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._Ron_Hubbard#Controversial_episodes" target="_newWindow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._Ron_Hubbard#Controversial_episodes</a>

It states: A Reader's Digest article of May 1980 quoted Hubbard as saying in the 1940s "Writing for a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man really wants to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion."

Hubbard was a science fiction author. I know people that believe it would be a good time for the IRS to re-consider their tax exempt status.

Of course, I don't claim to support or endorse any of this information. I wouldn't want to be in the shoes of Keith Henson right now.

This is what passes for an extraditable offense in California? This even passes for an offense in California?

There are people in this country who have REAL problems and the state of California is wasting its money on THIS!!!?

Because a group of people whom arguably are fortunate to even be able to USE the word religion in reference to the gift of tax-free status got their feelings hurt by a joke?

And just slightly prior to this we hear on the evening news that while our troops were being killed in a Iraq, regardless of where you stand on our involvement there, Tom Cruise is reportedly talking Scooter L. in Washington about what? A way to solve the mid-east peace crisis? World Peace? Keeping the troops safe? NOOOOO...

He was upset because of problems Scientology is having in GERMANY for God's sake.

Well Gee Whiz. I'm an Episcopalian and just in CASE you haven't noticed, we haven't had a sparkling year either, Tommy, my boy. Seems that some of the more conservative diocese from other countries are trying to split the entire church apart because they don't think Tinky Winky should be dispensing the communion wafer. Personally, I don't care what the priest wears under his robes as long as the wine is good.

And I don't think that any of US have been up on the hill whining to the administration about it and asking them to solve our problems. Of course, we also allow freedom of speech among our members and ex-members without suing them, disappearing them, erasing them from our history, and putting them in jail. Jokes too, are permitted. Even at our own expense.

I just wonder. Do Scientologists think that this public litigation helps their cause? Being known as litigious and worse than the Hotel California when it comes to check-out time is not very good advertising.

"Tom Cruise is reportedly talking Scooter L. in Washington about what? A way to solve the mid-east peace crisis? World Peace? Keeping the troops safe? NOOOOO... He was upset because of problems Scientology is having in GERMANY for God's sake"Scientology cannot be considered a religion if the US government is doing anything for them (Seperation of Church and State)

Eather they are not a religion or they are doing something illagal and should be shutdown

Scientology leader David Miscavige employed a cartoon hand grenade detonating to show his intent to "obliterate" psychiatry. He did this by use of a graphic at Scientology's New Year's Eve Event at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles this past December. I was at the event and witnessed this happening. Scientology's top leader used a "joke in poor taste" that could be construed as making a terrorist threat against mental health professionals. Yet, when Keith Henson made a joke in bad taste, Scientology spent $2,000,000 in legal fees to pursue a conviction of Keith Henson. Why does Scientology feel free to publicly use "jokes in bad taste" that can be construed as terrorist threats while persecuting Keith Henson for making a similar joke? This is hypocrisy on Scientology's part. I ask Riverside County officials to consider Scientology's double standard. I ask them to either release Mr. Henson or consider pressing charges against Mr. Miscavige for making a terrorist threat against mental health professionals. There has to be fairness and balance in the pursuit of justice. Mr. Henson has already paid hell for the past six years. He is 66 and not in good health. Is the common good served by imprisoning him to satisfy a religion that practices the same tactics for which it condemns Mr. Henson?

Now I wonder: The Church of Scientology is defended by the freedom of practicing religion. Okay, that's all well and good.

What happened to a man's freedom of speech? Is this precedence stating that I cannot march down to the nearest church and stand outside with a picket sign? That I can't post my opinion on the Internet?

of religion, they will never be able to get tax-free status. According to Webster.com...well I won't quote Webster you can just look it up yourself...but religion has to do with faith and beliefs. Of course faith or beliefs are not facts, but Scientology (I not going to look to see if I spelt it right), from what I understand, only deals with facts. So it technically cannot get the tax-free status that religions get.

Believing that any of what Hubbard wrote is a fact could only possibly happen if you've had one too many beers...

There's a reason they went to ridiculous lengths (including framing people for physical violence) to try and prevent their secret religious doctrines from appearing on the Internet; because if the average unbrainwashed person reads them, they wonder how people could be so horribly STUPID as to believe most of it...

I continuously see your posts and you never cease to amaze me when it comes to sheer stupidity. What you say is not witty, funny or even slightly (childishly) amusing. Please for the sake of that one last brain cell put your mommy's keyboard down and clean your room like a good child.

But the Church of Scientology is a business/Cult. It deals with its opposition through various techniques. It perverts the legal system and bends it to its will. It blackmails. It has turned the field of psychotherapy into a scapegoat to explain all the opposition toward the church. It plants all sorts of lies on the internet to serve as a validating network for the church. Basically its a terrible organization with terrible goals. And Ill defend their right to believe what they do. But I wont defend their right to corrupt the American system.

cult (noun): A religion or religious sect generally considered to be extremist or false, with its followers often living in an unconventional manner under the guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader.

This so called religion was designed by hubbard to make himself money and it belongs on the paid programming channels with the rest of the money grabbers. I;m not saying the individual members are involved in anything except their personal search for solutions but the leaderships living style would certainly be interesting if not charge provoking.

Now I finally understand why the prison in california is over populated, and why the US shortage of judge and jailer... Can't they have some "2nd life" type of prison instead? Would save money and really move forward to the future..

This is funny-scary; on the one hand, government is supposed to be free of religious influences, yet here is an example of a law carefully crafted to give a religion enormous influence over the population at large. I mean really - who with half a mind can construe a statement like "firing a Tom Cruise missile" to be a true physical threat? Since when can you use targeted enforcement of one law to control someone who is airing laundry you don't want the general public to know about? (Oh, wait...I'm forgetting J. Edgar Hoover...)

It wasn't even that personal - the guy, in light of some of Tom Cruise's recent movies, could have said something like "drop a Tom Cruise bomb on them". (That is a joke, darn it.)

Only Ca. could come up with a law this ridiculous and then extradite someone for it. What happened to freedom of speech did they outlaw it will I wasn't looking. I would challenge this law as unconstitutional if I was his lawyer.

I think that this is another one of those cases where the law has simply gone mad.

Unless he said a lot more than is indicated here I don't see how he is guilty of "threatening" anything. It's like one of those nightmares that you get in schools where overzealous principles suspend pre-K students for playing cops and robbers on the grounds that running around and shouting "Bang" breaks the zero tolerance on guns.

...Now what kind of crack r u smokin? What do Apple users have to do with Scientology. I'm an avid user of Macs but I'm Methodist. What crack head notion do u have to back this up. Are u 5 years old or something?

iZune, how do you get a cause and effect relationship between scientoligists and macs? If you haven't been paying attention, Apple has been picking up computer marketshare slowly for the last five years and even more now with the introduction of intel macs. I am a mac user but, I am also a college senior taking a physics degree with no particular religious preference. Infact, a very high percentage of people in the sciences use macs because the operating system itself is more powerful than windows as far what you can do if you know how. When was the last time that windows let you easily search you directory from a command line. (Note, the same idea can also be applied to linux). The reason you seem to be confused (the only one I can think of anyway) is that most of the people in the visual arts use macs because they are better suited for that than windows. But, I am still able to see no cause and effect relationship.

If a Muslim Fundamentalist blows up a buidling or kills someone in the state of California...he or she can't be arrested because Jihad is part of his/her religion, and arresting him would be stopping him from continuing his/her practicing his/her religion. Interesting.

Does anybody have the price chart for salvation? I'd like to buy it...just kidding...L Ron is the "Crackpot Jackpot" for turning Science Fiction into Religion. In my opinion...greed and power is going to kill us all. Anybody else have any thoughts on this?

And what's this with him being treated badly in jail? Does Scientology have buddies in the CJ system we need to know about.. that's the second thing to be concerned about after this ridiculous law that really needs to be challenged in the Supreme Court.

No more Tom Cruise or John Travolta movies for me. Sorry, but I can't see anything in those faces other than members of a fascist, weirdo cult.

How can this actually be happening? This is one of the most insane things I've ever heard of in my life. Since it is and has always been common public knowledge that Hubbard started his "religion," and I use the term loosely, as a practical joke, an experiment designed to see if it might yield financial benefit, which would be proof that anything really is possible in this day and age (at least that's what I remember reading numerous times back twenty years ago or more), how can this actually be happening? It's always been my opinion, based on all my casual reading over a lifetime, that L. Ron's SF was highly imaginative, and I enjoyed it. But it was all fiction. In case you've all forgotten, even the Dianetics stuff could then be found on the SF shelves in the libraries and bookstores. I can only guess they think that once all the people who remember all that are dead and gone, they can "come out" and claim legitimacy, and be believed. And they are probably right, the way things seem to be going. What a total bunch of nutcases! And they are getting away with it! Amazing!

And in California, where they seem to be able to legislate anything they want to, with absolutely no concern whatever given to right and wrong, they are leading the way towards a future in America that is a complete farce. Our governments, at every level, have fully realized that they can do whatever they want, without regard to any sort of value system. They can stack every deck, and they are doing it. And, we are letting them! So who do we have to blame but ourselves for allowing this? Why, no one, of course. We are a pathetic bunch, and this is just more proof of it.

Am I some crackpot, with an axe to grind? Nah. I'm just an average older citizen, an observer, watching the deterioration and crumbling of the fabric of what was once a society that had great potential. What other conclusion could I arrive at when what once was good is now a joke, and what once was a joke is now good? We Americans have a short memory, and they are taking full advantage of it. In fact, we are all sitting back and just letting it happen. How tragic. Everyone is so self-absorbed that there is no time to worry about it. So there's no stopping these people, and the joke is on us. L. Ron has simply got to be laughing his you-know-what off. But it's really not that funny. In fact, it's so unfunny that I'll be suprised if this comment of mine (and that's all it really is, just an observation) is actually posted. Just my own little experiment. If they can do it, why can't I? Gee, will I be arrested too?

...but you will be piled up by a volcano and nuked. And then you will be repeatedly subjected to bad cinema. And then you will be stuck to someone else's physical body until that person pays the CoS a buttload of money to purge you. So be careful.

"I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between Church and State."

Since when is it appropriate to have a religious body (or cult) instructing the DA in criminal prosecutions?

Scientology has been shown to use litigation to "punish" those who oppose it in any way. That should be more than enough for any objective person to judge it. When you're promoting truth you only need to present the facts. When you're peddling something less... well, you need to resort to other methods.

...certainly the christians are constantly trying to legislate their agenda into place. We won't even discuss islam (I like my head on my shoulders).

All religions are cults, it's just that some are bigger than others and assume they can label themselves with some legitimate sounding moniker. Once you strip away the mythology in any religion you are left with exactly nothing...

I say we go back to worshiping Odin, at least there was a guy you could to talk to. But hey, that's just the voices in my head, you'll have to listen to your own I suppose. Of course, if you do ignore my god Odin, then we'll just have to do something about that won't we...

With the number of people in this world terrorized by Scientology, Keith is one with the courage and conviction to stand up and say what needs to be said. I wonder if my subject line will make me a target, or worse, get me arrested.

I'm curious, though. Exactly how big of an explosion can a Tom Cruise missile make? I've seen him jumping on Oprah's couch--that seemed a little explosive, but not really enough to make any collateral damage.

Yep, this sounds like law enforcement based on solid reasoning. Next thing you'll tell me that Err will gridlock a major metropolitan area for being mistaken for an explosive. Oh, that'll be the day. Ha ha!

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